Word search puzzle apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

According to an embodiment, there is provided herein a word search-type puzzle in which the hidden words are arranged in such a way as to form a shape or image within the matrix that contains the hidden words. In an embodiment, after the words have been located and circled or otherwise visually identified, the image will be apparent. According to an embodiment, a theme or theme word will be selected that describes or relates in some way to the image that is revealed when the puzzle is solved by highlighting the hidden words.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention pertains to games and puzzles and, more particularly, toword search-type puzzles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A word search puzzle, often referred to as a “word find,” “word seek,”“word sleuth,” or “mystery word puzzle” is a task or game that consistsof an arrangement of letters, termed a “matrix” for purposes of thisapplication, in which some number of words are hidden. Conventionally,the words may occur within the matrix either horizontally, vertically,or diagonally. The goal of the user is to find all of the hidden words.When this task is undertaken with a printed matrix of letters, the userwould typically signify that a word has been found by circling theletters that form that word. There are many variations of this game,including those in which the separate list of the hidden words,sometimes called a “word bank”, is provided (or not), where the matrixis rectangular (or not), etc. According to Wikipedia, the first wordseek game may actually have been published in about 1968, so this gamedoes not have a very long history.

There are innumerable variations of the hidden word search puzzle, as aquick search of the Internet or perusal of a published collection ofsuch puzzles will quickly reveal. In fact, the instant inventor, who wasnine years old at the time the invention was conceived and reduced topractice, had played a number of such word puzzle games and felt thatthey could be improved in such a way as to make them ore interesting,challenging, and educational.

Although many millions of these puzzles are sold every year or accessedvia the Internet, there is room for innovation in this field. Forexample, the word search remains underutilized as an educational tooland, if a variation of this game could be adapted to be used in thatregard, it would be a fun and familiar way to expedite the learningprocess.

Further, because of its wide availability, the conventional wordsearch-type puzzle has lost its challenge and/or attractiveness for someusers. Thus, an innovation in this field would have the potential todraw users back into this game genre who might have abandoned it foralternative and less familiar word games.

As is well known in the game and puzzle arts, there has been a need forsome time for a system and method that provides a fresh approach to thepresentation of word search-type puzzles. Accordingly, it should now berecognized, as was recognized by the present inventor, that thereexists, and has existed for some time, a very real need for a method offurther improving the classic word search puzzle that would address andsolve the above-described problems.

Before proceeding to a description of the present invention, however, itshould be noted and remembered that the description of the inventionwhich follows, together with the accompanying drawings, should not beconstrued as limiting the invention to the examples (or embodiments)shown and described. This is so because those skilled in the art towhich the invention pertains will be able to devise other forms of thisinvention within the ambit of the appended claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an embodiment, there is provided a word search-type puzzlein which the hidden words are arranged in such a way as to form anidentifiable shape or image within the matrix, where the shape or imageis comprised of the words that have been located and circled orotherwise visually identified by a user. According to an embodiment, atheme or theme word may be selected by the developer of the word searchthat describes or relates in some way to the shape or image that isrevealed when the puzzle is solved by highlighting the hidden words.

In some embodiments, this theme or theme word will be revealed to theuser in advance of attempting a solution. In other embodiments, thetheme or theme word will be part of the solution, e.g., after the puzzleis solved, the user will be asked to identify the subject that has beenrevealed through his or her efforts. In some embodiments, the words thatare hidden within the matrix will be presented to the user in tabularform outside of the matrix so as to give the user some help inidentifying them. In other embodiments, the solution words will not beprovided and the user will be required to find them without suchassistance.

In some embodiments, where the theme or theme word is amenable to it,some or all of the hidden words that form the theme shape or image willbe situated within a part of the matrix that roughly corresponds to thatplacement of that word within the shape (e.g., if the hidden image is a“house,” the hidden word “roof” will appear in the matrix in a positionthat roughly corresponds to the roof of the hidden shapes of the house).

Other embodiments and variations are certainly possible within the scopeof the instant invention and can readily be formulated by those ofordinary skill in the art based on the disclosure herein.

The foregoing has outlined in broad terms the more important features ofthe invention disclosed herein so that the detailed description thatfollows may be more clearly understood, and so that the contribution ofthe instant inventor to the art may be better appreciated. The instantinvention is not to be limited in its application to the details of theconstruction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in thefollowing description or illustrated in the drawings. Rather, theinvention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced andcarried out in various other ways not specifically enumerated herein.Finally, it should be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting, unless the specification specifically so limitsthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and further aspects of the invention are described in detail inthe following examples and accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 contains an embodiment of the invention in which the solution ofthe matrix reveals that the theme is a “house”.

FIG. 2 contains a prior art example of a solved conventional word searchpuzzle showing random placement of the same words as used in theembodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 contains results of a recall test using an embodiment of theinventive puzzle as compared with a traditional random word searchpuzzle.

FIG. 4 contains test results of time-to-completion for an embodiment ofthe inventive puzzle versus a traditional random word search.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning now to FIG. 1, there is provided an embodiment of a word searchgame or puzzle wherein completion of the puzzle reveals pattern or imagethat is related to or associated with a predetermined theme or themeword. As can be seen in this example, an embodiment utilizes arectangular matrix 100 of letters in which certain words have beenhidden. In the example of FIG. 1 the solution has been completed forpurpose of illustration but, of course, in practice it would be theuser's task to find and highlight the hidden words. Note in thisparticular case, solution of the puzzle has revealed the image of a“house” which was the designated theme.

As can be seen in the example of FIG. 1, in this particular case theuser has been provided with a listing of the hidden words 110 in a wordbank to assist him or her locating them within the matrix 100. Clearly,some variations of the instant invention might not provide assistance inthis regard but instead require the user to search out and highlight thehidden words themselves.

Examining FIG. 1 in greater detail, note that, in this embodiment, theword “sun” is located in the upper right hand corner above the image ofthe house, which might correspond graphically in a general way to wherethe image of the sun might appear in drawing of a house. In addition, onthe left margin of the matrix, the word “cloud” appears in a verticalorientation, which is another element that would typically appear abovethe image of the house in an actual image. Note that this configuration,i.e., where the hidden words are to the extent possible spatiallyarranged within the letter matrix in a location that is proximate towhere that element might be found in an actual drawing of the themeditem, is one possible variation of the invention.

In some embodiments, the user might be provided with the theme (e.g.,“house” in FIG. 1) in advance of beginning the solution. Obviously,providing the theme or the theme word to the user would assist them inlocating the hidden words. If the theme is generally known, finding onepart or edge of the hidden shape would make it easier to identify theother hidden words: in some cases tracing out the remaining edges of theshape or image could be used to find words rather than brute forcesearch.

In some embodiments, and as is generally indicated in FIG. 1, some orall of the words that are imbedded in the matrix might be presented tothe user in the form of a list 110 outside of the matrix. Obviously,this would be optional and under the control of the game designer.

In some embodiments, the matrix that contains the hidden words might bea shape other than rectangular. For example, it might be cast in theshape of a circle, a pentagon, or any arbitrary shape. In otherembodiments, letters in certain areas of the matrix might be arrangeddifferently than the letters in other areas to facilitate the use ofmore complex shapes or images as the puzzle solution. For example,rather than simple horizontal and vertical placement, letters in thematrix or in certain areas of the matrix might be presented in anarcuate, circular or other non-linear form.

For purposes of comparison, FIG. 2 contains a conventional word searchthat has the target words configured in random orientations within thematrix 200 as is typically done with such puzzles. It should be clearthat a word search of the sort taught herein would enhance theplayability and motivate the user to discover the hidden shape or imagein the matrix, thereby resulting in more of such puzzles being attemptedand completed. As is sometimes provided, in FIG. 2 the user has beenprovided with a listing of the hidden words 210. As used in the claims,the term “pattern” is used to generally refer to any shape or imagerepresenting, reflecting or otherwise related to or associated with thetheme or theme word of the puzzle.

In some embodiments, the user will be asked to determine the theme ortheme word as part of the puzzle solution. In such an embodiment, theuser might be provided with a response area that has the number ofletters that are associated with the theme word or words. As an example,in the embodiment of FIG. 1, a response area 120 that comprises fivedashes in which the user would be expected to write the word “house” hasbeen provided.

According to an embodiment, the inventive word search could be used tohelp teach students a foreign language or English as a second language.In such a case, the words that are searched for could be words that theinstructor desires the students to learn which relate in some manner toa pattern embedded in the matrix. Additionally, the theme or theme wordcould be a word or phrase in the language being taught, thereby furtherenhancing the learning experience.

In some embodiments the matrix will be presented to the user in the formof a display screen of the sort that might be found on a desk topcomputer, laptop computer, table computer, smart phone, book reader,etc. For purposes of the instant disclosure, the term “computer display”will be broadly be interpreted to include any and all of the foregoingand variations thereof. The selection process might utilize a mouse, atrack ball, a stylus, or the user's finger if the display is touchsensitive.

Note that the word searches formed according to the methods taughtherein can be shown to be superior to prior art puzzles in that usersare able to complete themed searches quicker and have improved recall ascompared with conventional word searches. FIGS. 3 and 4 support theseconclusions. These figures contain the test results obtained from groupsof users older and younger than 12 years of age who were asked tocomplete the exercises of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. In FIG. 3, each subject wasasked to recall the hidden words after a period of rest. The value thatis reported corresponds to the number of words that were correctlyrecalled. FIG. 4 contains a bar chart that illustrates the number ofseconds required to complete a themed search and a randomly oriented(prior art) search of the sorts presented in FIGS. 1 and 2.

As can be seen in FIG. 3, the number words that could be recalled aftercompleting a word search according to an embodiment was higher thancould be recalled where the words presented were not from a themedmatrix. This suggests that if the goal is to teach a collection of words(e.g., in a language class) a themed word search could prove to beuseful.

Additionally, and as expected, the time to complete the randomlyoriented word search was longer than average time to complete the wordsearch created according to an embodiment (FIG. 4). Clearly, having theadvantage of searching for a recognizable shape or image within thematrix confers a clear benefit in terms of completion time and recall.

Although word searches are typically configured with words alongvertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines, in some embodiments, othershapes might be used (e.g., arcuate, piece-wise linear/stair step,etc.). Use of words arranged in this these sorts of configurations wouldbe helpful where the hidden image corresponding to them cannot readilybe illustrated using only straight lines.

Finally, note that the word “matrix” as used herein should be broadlyconstrued to include rectangular arrangements of letters in which thetheme words are embedded as well as non-rectangular arrangements (e.g.,where the letters that hide the theme words are arranged in the shape ofan animal, a familiar object, etc.).

It is to be understood that the terms “including”, “comprising”,“consisting” and grammatical variants thereof do not preclude theaddition of one or more components, features, steps, or integers orgroups thereof and that the terms are to be construed as specifyingcomponents, features, steps or integers.

If the specification or claims refer to “an additional” element, thatdoes not preclude there being more than one of the additional element.

It is to be understood that where the claims or specification refer to“a” or “an” element, such reference is not be construed that there isonly one of that element.

It is to be understood that where the specification states that acomponent, feature, structure, or characteristic “may”, “might”, “can”or “could” be included, that particular component, feature, structure,or characteristic is not required to be included.

Where applicable, although state diagrams, flow diagrams or both may beused to describe embodiments, the invention is not limited to thosediagrams or to the corresponding descriptions. For example, flow neednot move through each illustrated box or state, or in exactly the sameorder as illustrated and described.

Methods of the present invention may be implemented by performing orcompleting manually, automatically, or a combination thereof, selectedsteps or tasks.

The term “method” may refer to manners, means, techniques and proceduresfor accomplishing a given task including, but not limited to, thosemanners, means, techniques and procedures either known to, or readilydeveloped from known manners, means, techniques and procedures bypractitioners of the art to which the invention belongs.

The term “at least” followed by a number is used herein to denote thestart of a range beginning with that number (which may be a range havingan upper limit or no upper limit, depending on the variable beingdefined). For example, “at least 1” means 1 or more than 1. The term “atmost” followed by a number is used herein to denote the end of a rangeending with that number (which may be a range having 1 or 0 as its lowerlimit, or a range having no lower limit, depending upon the variablebeing defined). For example, “at most 4” means 4 or less than 4, and “atmost 40%” means 40% or less than 40%. Terms of approximation (e.g.,“about”, “substantially”, “approximately”, etc.) should be interpretedaccording to their ordinary and customary meanings as used in theassociated art unless indicated otherwise. Absent a specific definitionand absent ordinary and customary usage in the associated art, suchterms should be interpreted to be ±10% of the base value.

Where a range is given as “(a first number) to (a second number)” or “(afirst number)-(a second number)”, this means a range whose lower limitis the first number and whose upper limit is the second number. Forexample, 25 to 100 should be interpreted to mean a range whose lowerlimit is 25 and whose upper limit is 100. Additionally, it should benoted that where a range is given, every possible subrange or intervalwithin that range is also specifically intended unless the contextindicates to the contrary. For example, if the specification indicates arange of 25 to 100 such range is also intended to include subranges suchas 26-100, 27-100, etc., 25-99, 25-98, etc., as well as any otherpossible combination of lower and upper values within the stated range,e.g., 33-47, 60-97, 41-45, 28-96, etc. Note that integer range valueshave been used in this paragraph for purposes of illustration only anddecimal and fractional values (e.g., 46.7-91.3) should also beunderstood to be intended as possible subrange endpoints unlessspecifically excluded.

It should be noted that where reference is made herein to a methodcomprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carriedout in any order or simultaneously (except where context excludes thatpossibility), and the method can also include one or more other stepswhich are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two ofthe defined steps, or after all of the defined steps (except wherecontext excludes that possibility).

Further, it should be noted that terms of approximation (e.g., “about”,“substantially”, “approximately”, etc.) are to be interpreted accordingto their ordinary and customary meanings as used in the associated artunless indicated otherwise herein. Absent a specific definition withinthis disclosure, and absent ordinary and customary usage in theassociated art, such terms should be interpreted to be plus or minus 10%of the base value.

Thus, the present invention is well adapted to carry out the objects andattain the ends and advantages mentioned above as well as those inherenttherein. While the inventive device has been described and illustratedherein by reference to certain preferred embodiments in relation to thedrawings attached thereto, various changes and further modifications,apart from those shown or suggested herein, may be made therein by thoseof ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit of theinventive concept the scope of which is to be determined by thefollowing claims.

1. A method of playing a game, comprising the steps of: a. choosing atheme; b. selecting a plurality of words associated with said theme,each of said selected words being comprised of a plurality of letters;c. arranging said plurality of letters associated with said selectedplurality of words into a pattern that is an identifiable shape or imagerepresentative of said theme; d. embedding said plurality of lettersassociated with said selected plurality of words within a matrixcontaining others letters, wherein said embedded words are arrangedaccording to said pattern; e. forming a visually perceptiblepresentation of said matrix; f. presenting said visually perceptiblerepresentation of said matrix to a user; and, g. allowing the user toattempt to identify each of said plurality of words and saididentifiable shape or image within said matrix.
 2. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein said matrix is rectangular in shape.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein said visually perceptible representationof said matrix is presented to the user on a medium selected from thegroup consisting of a printed page and a computer display.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein said selected of plurality of words arepresented to the user in a word bank.
 5. The method according to claim1, wherein each of said plurality of words is positioned within saidpattern at a position related to its meaning with respect to said theme.6. A puzzle book comprising a plurality of pages, wherein at least onepage contains a puzzle printed thereon that is prepared according to amethod comprising the steps of: a. choosing a theme; b. selecting aplurality of words associated with said theme, each of said selectedwords being comprised of a plurality of letters; c. arranging saidplurality of letters associated with said selected plurality of wordsinto a pattern associated with said theme; d. embedding said pluralityof letters associated with said selected plurality of words within amatrix of others letters, wherein said embedded words are arrangedaccording to said pattern; and, e. printing said matrix on said at leastone page, thereby forming said printed puzzle.
 7. The puzzle bookaccording to claim 6, wherein said matrix of letters is rectangular inshape.
 8. The method according to claim 6, wherein said selected ofplurality of words are presented to the user in a word bank.
 9. Themethod according to claim 6, wherein each of said plurality of words ispositioned within said pattern at a position related to its meaning withrespect to said theme.
 10. A puzzle book containing a plurality ofpages, wherein at least one page of said puzzle book contains at leastone matrix of letters containing a plurality of words hidden therein,each of said plurality words being associated with a predetermined themeand said plurality of words being positioned within said matrix ofletters on said page so as to form a pattern associated with saidpredetermined theme.
 11. The puzzle book according to claim 10, whereinsaid matrix of letters is rectangular in shape.
 12. The method accordingto claim 10, wherein said selected of plurality of words are presentedto the user in a word bank.
 13. The method according to claim 10,wherein each of said plurality of words is positioned within saidpattern at a position related to its meaning with respect to said theme.14. An educational word search puzzle, comprising: a. a puzzle surface;b. an arrangement of a plurality of letters forming a matrix on thesurface, the arrangement including a plurality of hidden wordspositioned therewithin among the other plurality of letters forming thematrix; and c. a pattern representative of a shape or image representingan object within the matrix, the pattern being formed by the position ofthe plurality of hidden words and revealed upon the identification ofthe hidden words, resulting in a transformed surface containing thepattern; wherein the plurality of hidden words relate in some way to thepattern revealed when the puzzle is solved.
 15. The puzzle of claim 14,wherein the hidden words are spatially arranged within the matrix inpositions that correspond graphically to where a like element may befound in the object.
 16. The puzzle of claim 14, wherein the hiddenwords all relate to a particular theme.
 17. The puzzle of claim 14,wherein the puzzle surface is a printed surface.
 18. The puzzle of claim14, wherein the puzzle surface is a display screen.
 19. A puzzle bookcontaining a plurality of pages, wherein at least one page of saidpuzzle book contains a matrix of letters containing a plurality of wordshidden therein, each of said plurality words being associated with asame predetermined theme and said plurality of words being positionedwithin said matrix of letters either horizontally, vertically, ordiagonally on said page, wherein said plurality of words taken togetherdepict a recognizable shape or image associated with said predeterminedtheme.